D.C. Sports Bog: May 3, 2009 - May 9, 2009

I know it's pesky when random objects are so brazen as to locate themselves within an arm's length of your arm when your hockey team has just lost a game. And I know the first thought to enter your mind might be, "water bottle, this is your fault! I...

Luck stuff happened. (By Ricky Carioti - TWP) There was a lot of talk about luck tonight. Both teams dominated stretches of the game. Both teams had chances to win. Sure, the Penguins earned their final chance by getting on the power play, and sure, Evgeni Malkin bulled his...

Wale on First Take from Elitaste on Vimeo. * Above, see Wale talking Caps on First Take. Waiting for First Take to do their Death Thrash Metal Bands Love the Caps piece. * Also, it's to my eternal discredit that I never mentioned the big fly in the second-round playoff...

In their first 33 years of existence, the Washington Capitals never played two playoff games in consecutive nights in different cities. Saturday, they'll do it for the second time in two years. The era of seven evenly spaced games has clearly passed, and so the Caps and Pens will hop...

I heard some of Bruce Boudreau's comments about the officiating from last night re-played on Pittsburgh sports-talk radio this morning. They were followed by crying baby noises. Now, the hosts actually said they agreed with Boudreau in part, but it's hard to imagine how much angst there'd be among a...

I mentioned the other day that CSN Caps reporter Lisa Hillary saw a rat during her live shot at Verizon Center following Game 2. The incident made some Canadian newspapers, but what we all wanted was the video. Tada. Some priceless footage of the incident is above, courtesy CSN....

I mentioned last night that the feeds for Versus and CBC apparently both showed six "Keys to Victory" that were written on a dry erase board inside the Caps' dressing room before Game 3. The purpose of the shot was Alex Ovechkin getting ready, but the keys to victory were...

I certainly don't want to say anything disparaging about the Pens fans in Game 3. They were loud enough, I suppose, though they produced nowhere near the noise generated in MSG or the Verizon Center or in Philly last year, at least based on where we were sitting. Maybe...

Making d-men tired. (By Keith Srakocic - AP) I've never exactly understood why it is that when one team controls the ball, in virtually any sport, the other team ends up looking tired. Sure, there are some substitution rules that can work in favor of the offense--in both football...

Ovechkin and Crosby, before the talking started. (By Jason Cohn - Reuters) Three of the biggest stars in the NHL took the podium one after another this evening to address the Penguins' 3-2 overtime win. All three agreed that Pittsburgh deserved to win this one, though Alex Ovechkin wasn't...

Gee thanks, Versus. Maybe next time you can just deliver a copy of this over to the Pens dressing room before the game. Anyhow, nothing particularly dramatic was given away, I suppose, when the network showed Ovie putting on his pads before the game. I like No. 3. ("Have...

Embedded video from NBA Video So the TNT crew were discussing sports the other day, when this happened: Chris Webber: "LeBron James is the best athlete in all of sports. Tiger Woods is the greatest winner in all of sports and all that...[but] LeBron James is the best athlete in...

More observations from this morning at the rink.... * You saw how Bruce Boudreau and Matt Cooke were trading barbs. This was the last word I heard from Cooke: "Bruce can banter all he wants," he said. "I could care less." As for Boudreau describing some of the Pittsburgh complaints...

Svrluga and I cruised into Pittsburgh air space just in time for some 10 a.m. sports talk radio. The show began with an observation that if any team could blow a 2-0 series lead to the Penguins, it was the Caps. Then they said that Washington's new fans--"nouveau riche,"...

(By Blair Gable - Reuters) Karl Alzner was out to dinner with Jeff Schultz and Eric Fehr last night, and said that baseball wasn't part of their evening plans. Then they saw the lights at PNC Park. As all residents of Half Street can attest, that's hard to resist....

I got an e-mail from Intern Boris a few days ago alerting me to another rapper who's proclaimed his Caps fandom: "Rapper Big Pooh" from Little Brother. Still working on that one, but here's a third rap homage, following Wale's "Wale Ovechkin" embrace. This one is Incwell, who's previously done...

Sloan in his debut. (By Pablo Martinez Monsivais - AP) "Congratulations," Karl Alzner said to Tyler Sloan's dad late Monday night. "He played awesome. That was awesome. I'm so happy for him." "So am I," said Sloan's father, Fred. "He was a little nervous in the first period." "I...

Hat tricks and hats. Note Jim Zorn and Danny Smith in upper right. (By Ricky Carioti - TWP) What question have I been asked more than any other in the past two days? What happens with the hats? As in, the hundreds of caps and other headgear that tumbled...

With thanks to Jon Forsythe for the swell editing, here's a look at Caron Butler's first pitch this afternoon. He had volunteered his services for the eighth inning, if needed. He should have made it the 11th, I guess....

Success. (By John McDonnell - TWP) "I'm not doing it for the media attention, I'm doing it for my own inner confidence," Caron Butler said earlier this spring, concerning his attempt at first-pitch redemption. "Brother, I ain't been right since that damn pitch. I've got to go back and...

I'm not sure what it is about Saturday afternoon vs. Monday evening, but the fans sure create a lot more photos on the latter occasion. In this case, Caps fans showed many of their zig-zaggy sides. A selection. Most of the names are vanished, due to a misplaced notebook....

Co-worker Cathy aka Miss Chatter checks in with a truly amazing story concerning Nats closer-in-waiting Joe Beimel. Sorry to interrupt all the Caps posts (great win last night!), but this was too good to pass up. Joe Beimel may be the most bloggable Nat since Dmitri Young and his...

For dozens of reasons, last night was a game to remember for a long, long time. Most of the reasons had to do with hockey. A few didn't. Jim Zorn being grabbed down into a kiss by his wife while sitting at the glass holding two water bottles is...

(By Cheryl Nichols - Capitals News Network) Yeah, the Crosby taunters were back, and stronger than on Saturday. The baby above was possibly the most popular fan of the night, certainly the most popular baby fan. Thanks to Cheryl Nichols of the Capitals News Network for the great work...

(By Toni L. Sandys - TWP) If you're one of the best hockey players in the world, and you have a potentially undeserved reputation for excessive complaining, and you're asked what you were discussing with a game official following your rival's game-clinching playoff hat trick, you could potentially say,...

(By Len Redkoles - Getty) Why weren't there an excessive number of Pittsburgh fans in the building for Game 1? I've heard a few explanations. My favorite comes from the Caps message board, and goes something like this: "They were too busy filing out of FedEx Field." That's brilliant,...

Co-worker Cathy aka Miss Chatter checks in with a truly amazing story concerning Nats closer-in-waiting Joe Beimel. (Excuse me while I cartwheel through the bog avoiding getting stuck in the muck while shouting Woohoo!! Checking name at bottom of post - woohoo!!) Ok, now that I've gotten that out...

There was a stunning lack of hostility from players on both sides following Saturday's game. This was the closest I heard, from Brooks Orpik: "Sid came out and set the tone for us right away," he said. "I thought all day he stayed out of the nonsense after the whistles,...

I'll be honest, Game 1 felt slightly anti-climactic. or maybe pre-climactic. Maybe it was because of the sheer joy from Game 7 of the last series, which was tough to match for a Game 1, even against the Pens. Maybe it was because simultaneously dealing with a broken laptop...